Theological Liberalism as measured by your doctrine of Hell

Al Mohler has suggested that we can use a church or individual’s theology of hell as a measure of their theological liberalism. He also mentions that there is a characteristic ‘slide’ from the orthodox (read ‘biblical’) view of hell to the liberal view that abhors the idea as cruel and unjust (odium theologium). Here you go.

Orthodox Belief: You believe in and preach the doctrine of Hell

Silence: You stop mentioning it because you find it offensive

Reduction to Consequentialism: A doctrine is revised and retained in reduced form – something like consequentialism, as opposed to retributionism (God is actively punishing evil)

Positivism: Essentially, don’t worry about it, we’re not even sure if hell is real or what it means. Just be as positive as possible – focus on being a good person and hell will take care of itself.

Liberalization of the Doctrine: Changing the doctrine from eternal to denying that hell is everlasting, arguing for a form of annihilationism, or conditional immortality.

Denial of Biblical Accuracy: Basically, yes the Bible teaches eternal Hell, but the Bible is wrong.

1 Response

One could reverse the above analysis to find a person's measure of conservatism. Thus, a conservative believes, among other things, that Hell is eternal, that is, that what one does in a few measly decades determines whether one spends all of eternity (forever and ever, without end, without hope) being tortured, both physically and mentally, in the most excruciating ways imaginable (and unimaginable). Imagine the movie "Saw" or "Last House on the Left" or any other torture porn you wish ("The Passion of the Christ" for example) and multiply it by infinity, and you still won't get near what conservatives wish on those they disapprove of.

In other words, conservatives not only believe that evil rules the universe, but they rejoice in it.

Thank God I'm a "liberal" (according to them). If the Bible teaches that, then to Hell with the Bible.